GOING into the 10,000 track championships as favourite, Dave Connell didn’t disappoint when he came home the clear winner by almost 40 seconds at the weekend.

In the opening stages of the Huntingdonshire Athletics Club race, Connell was closely tracked by Ian Turner and John Uff, but the relentless pace soon told and the chasing pair began to tail off.

At six kilometres Connell similarly let got of the pace but with the win in the beg, he completed the final mile in five minutes 18 seconds. This completed Connell’s hat-trick of consecutive vistories in the event.

The standard was strong in the race and 10 club members finished it in under 40 minutes. In 2011 the average time of the top 10 runners was 38.46 but this year the mean was 37.03.

In the women’s race, 17-year-old Eleanor Smith led from the start and finished in 42.14 - a new under-20s women’s club record. Just two days before Smith had completed the Bourn to Run 10k.

The top three female runners in 2011 averaged 47.00, this year they managed 44.04.

Steve Church passed Martin Rowe with just metres to go to claim the male veterans’ title, while Caroline Saunders ran a solid race to win the female vets category.